The use of augmented reality in marketing is coming of age. After years of being touted as the next big thing for advertisers, and with growing proof cases of success to show, it is now at a stage where it’s demanding that brands pay attention - and Snap is leading the way.
conducted earlier this year suggests AR adoption is tracking the mobile usage boom of the 2000s, and predicts that nearly 75% of the global population and almost all smartphone users will be frequent AR users by 2025.
That’s huge, and it’s backed up by the numbers. After clearing $1.4bn in 2020, AR analysts . If you aren’t in it already, now is the time to get involved.
If you haven’t looked at AR for marketing since circa 2018 and you’re unsure about how to execute Snap AR or measure it - or just how impactful it can really be - here are some things that may surprise you...
#1: Its appeal is broad and deep
Just because something is disruptive, doesn’t mean it won’t have broad appeal.
More than 200 million Snapchatters engage with AR every day on average, and unlike many other ad formats, there’s a lean towards longer-form content.
Take the NHS as an example. It got 3m+ 18-24 year olds in the UK talking about organ donation using a body-tracking AR Lens that showed where our internal organs are. Not only did Snap’s audience find the concept engaging, the Lens only worked when two people used it together, helping to kickstart a conversation with friends and family about a hugely important topic.
Elsewhere, Snapchat’s “try-on” AR experience has been hugely successful for brands across fashion and beauty, and MAC used it in the height of the pandemic to drive awareness of its own virtual try-on technology.
When people couldn’t get to a physical store to test out the shades in person, this clever activation hit home even more, and drove sales by directing Snapchatters to a page to purchase. The results showed that two million people used or became aware of the new feature, with action intent highest in MAC’s target of 25-34 year-old Snapchatters.
#2: It’s cost-effective (and cheaper than you think)
Advances in both the tools to make Snap AR, and the technology itself, have combined to make creation easier and more affordable over the years.
Plus distribution options are becoming more flexible too; there’s no need to embark on huge national campaigns if the budget or objectives don’t warrant it.
Not only that, Snapchat can provide build assistance and access to free creative tools such as Lens Studio and Lens Web Builder.
With the Snapchat Ads Manager platform, it’s possible to build full-screen digital ads that inspire action and launch them from as little as £5 a day.
#3: It’s a hard-working sales tool and brand differentiator
AR Lenses have come a long way since flower crowns and vomiting rainbows. While such fun executions will likely always have a place, experiences have moved on considerably and can deliver both awareness and robust business objectives for brands.
Take . The “AR Store of the Future” allowed Snapchatters to shop a virtual store and play with three different phones, with the option to buy them via a “Shop Now” button.
Gucci also knows just how powerful that “Shop Now” button can be. It achieved a huge 18.9m reach with its trainer try-on AR campaign, which was primarily designed to raise awareness of the new trainer collection. However, it captured the attention of Snapchatters and engaged them with the product to such an extent that the campaign generated positive ROAS, despite that not being one of its lead objectives.
In fact, Snap’s , conducted in partnership with Deloitte Digital, found that interacting with a product via an AR experience leads to a 94% higher conversion rate. Evidence that AR can have results all the way through the funnel.
#4: It’s simple to build (and Snap can help)
The truth is, you don’t need an ounce of coding experience to build AR experiences within Snapchat. While it is home to the leading AR development platform for those in the know - Lens Studio - it also has the much simpler Lens Web Builder too, aimed at complete newcomers.
With hundreds of free objects and animations, Lens Web Builder can help anyone build a Lens AR experience within minutes, directly within their browser. is the essential playbook for top tips and guidance through the process.
Alongside that, Snapchat’s experts and its approved AR partners are also on hand to provide expertise and guidance for any brands planning more involved AR concepts.
While larger projects used to take much more time to launch, the process has sped up considerably thanks to advancements in the technology, and time spent perfecting the process. Now Snapchat has a variety of solutions to meet brand objectives, from campaigns with very short timelines to fully bespoke multifaceted projects. Using Lens Web Builder, for example, makes it easy to create AR Lens campaigns directly within Ads Manager.
#5: It’s measurable in all the usual ways (and some new ones)
Brands want proof of how marketing spend is working. But, just because AR is not a traditional platform doesn’t mean traditional measurement techniques don’t work with it.
In fact, all of the well-established techniques that brand marketers have used for decades can be used to test effectiveness, including reach, engagement, try-on, install and purchase.
In addition, Snap has also headed up research into new ways of measurement, to give better insight into AR’s strengths.
The research used neuroscience techniques to understand how the immersiveness of AR plays into advertising outcomes, and Snapchat is also investigating the use of eye-tracking technology to understand how audiences are consuming AR experiences too.
As these next-gen measurement techniques come into play and become more widely used, brands will have a deeper understanding of how their AR ads have performed compared with more traditional methods, while having the ability to compare like-for-like too.
Interested in seeing how AR could work for your brand? Head over to for inspiration from other brands using AR to drive business results.
